Arcade Fire at Target Center review
Arcade Fire shimmers at Target Center
Before confetti rained down in sheets upon the dapperly dressed crowd at Target Center, the indie-rock group Arcade Fire had already proven that they put on much more than a concert — they put on a party. This party got started with an acoustic version of “My Body is a Cage”, that had masked singer/guitarist Win Butler and his wife, singer/multi-instumentalist Régine Chassagne, perched upon a small elevated stage directly behind the soundboard near the back of the arena. As the song ended, the curtain dropped on the main stage while the rest of the band jumped into “Reflektor”, the upbeat title track from the band’s 2013 release. The mirror embellished stage shimmered in purple and blue, as the band kicked off a very nice two hour set.
“Flashbulb Eyes”, another track off of Reflektor was played next, but it was the two tracks that followed that really got the sizable crowd of Target Center rocking. A interesting kettle-drum driven “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” that flowed into “Rebellion (Lies)”, both from the band’s prodigious debut lp Funeral, were potent and sounded incredible. Curly haired with a child-like carefree spirit, Chassagne then took to the mic for “Joan of Arc”, a standout track off of Reflektor. It was good, and like all of the songs she sang on this night, seemed to glide through the sound-unfriendly arena with clarity that was sometimes missing from Butler’s vocals.
“This is a perfect song for the Target Center”, Win Butler exclaimed as he sat at the piano in the center of the stage and began playing “The Suburbs”, the second of three consecutive tracks from their more mellow and beautiful third album of the same name. Soon after, he again tried relating to the crowd, as the band hammered through the winter-themed track “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” from Funeral.
“Normal Person”, one of the first singles released from Reflektor, was the biggest highlight of the night. Before starting Butler said, “Dance like you’re in that Nirvana video from the 90s”, and as the choruses hit, the entire general admission floor and a majority of those dancing near their seats obliged, jumping in a unifying rhythmic sea of chaos. It was fantastic.
Later for the song “It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus)”, Régine went to the small stage as the rest of the band pounded out the groove-heavy tune from up front. She and Butler traded vocals and it was something to experience, as the husband and wife call and response that echoed from both ends of the arena was filtered through the crowd. By the end the song broke down quietly, as the two trade the lyrics “It’s never over”, which finally tailed off. In her sparkly blue dress, Chassagne ran back to the main stage to take the vocals for “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”, the goose-bump inducing and flowing poke at society’s never-ending consumption of land.
As the encore started, costumed replicas of the band eerily stood at the back stage pretending to play, while Prince’s “When You Were Mine” buzzed through the PA. Win Butler called out from the main stage for it to end, with a LED cube over his head that displayed Prince’s (and sometimes Michele Bachmann’s) face, as the band busted into the Prince cover “Controversy”. Although the song didn’t hit with the power of their originals, it was great that the band knew exactly where they were.
Régine Chassagne took to the xylophone for the percussive groove “Here Comes the Night Time” that had the entire crowd dancing. In the middle of the song, confetti bombs exploded from above drenching the crowd in colorful fun. Before the final song, Butler thanked the crowd saying, “You made this arena feel super intimate, thank you“, and the band raged into the always commanding crowd-favorite “Wake Up” from Funeral. It was a stellar ending to a theatrical rock-n-roll party, that was well worth putting a suit and tie on for.
Review for Twin Cities Daily Planet.
Arcade Fire – Target Center, Minneapolis, MN 3.8.14 Setlist
My Body is a Cage
Reflektor
Flashbulb Eyes
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) >
Rebellion (Lies)
Joan of Arc
Rococo
The Suburbs
Ready to Start
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
We Exist
Normal Person
No Cars Go
Haiti
Afterlife
It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus)
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
Encore:
When You Were Mine*
Controversy**
Here Comes the Night Time
Wake Up
*Prince song played over PA
**Prince cover
